Where in the world are the cheapest fresh berries? And do you opt for frozen?

Embaloo on 30/08/2017 - 19:53

Berries are a such luxury item for me, since they are usually so expensive here in Australia.

If I were to travel overseas again one day, where do you recommend that has fresh gourmet berries readily available or even wild when in season, and with prices like strawberries get to here?

I have some childhood fantasy that there is someplace I can go where I can pick them and take them to a grandma where she'll put them in a pie with some fresh cream and we'll sit eating more fresh berries and eating some hot berry pie and drinking some pink lemonade at a lace clothed table whist looking out into a paddock at some cows.

Does this place exist? Is country England anything like this???

I adore blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries, mulberries and that's all I can remember for now.

I have gone purple-faced mulberry picking on the lakes of the nepean river as a kid, and also fallen into blackberries bushes in New Zealand, but how about raspberries and blueberries, as well as those other ones?

Frozen ones suit cakes and smoothies but there's something incredible about biting into real fresh berries!!

I realised that whilst they might often get down to $4.90/punnet (e.g. woollies blueberries), that is still a whopping $39/kilo!!!

Any places in the world, or Australia?? Ozbargain Travelers???

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • qwerty on 30/08/2017 - 19:57
    +4

    Theres tons of u-pick farms that are around $11 a kilo in Victoria - i dont know where you will find the grandma to bake you the pie - maybe air tasker

    • activ8newbs on 30/08/2017 - 20:07

      That really made me laugh!

    • Embaloo on 30/08/2017 - 20:16

      Haha! Made me laugh out loud too! Are there any you have been to personally?

  • Aniseed Steed on 30/08/2017 - 20:02

    There are lots of U-pick farms in the US.

    • Embaloo on 30/08/2017 - 20:17

      Oh cool! Do you remember any states particularly?

  • Aniseed Steed on 30/08/2017 - 20:22
    +1

    Oregon.

    • Embaloo on 30/08/2017 - 20:49

      Great! Thanks!

  • Mummy2 on 30/08/2017 - 20:25
    +2

    I believe you can still pick blackberries "in the wild" for free in the UK (so long as you're not trespassing on anyone's land to do so), although there have been news articles in the last few years claiming that some local councils in the UK are proposing by-laws that would make it illegal. Take an umbrella or walking stick to be able to reach the berries up high.

    • bluesky on 02/09/2017 - 02:03

      Quite right, it was quite recent (less than 2 years ago) that I spent an afternoon picking blackberries somewhere in West Sussex, assured by locals it was fine to do so. Also, there was no spraying, so perfectly safe to eat.

  • mskeggs on 30/08/2017 - 20:31
    +2

    There are plenty of places to pick blackberries along the road side not far out of Sydney.
    For the 3 weeks in Feb when they are in season here in the mountains we pick them for dessert most nights on the way home from school. Mum and Dad usually go away for a night in Oberon in early March and collect enough to make jam.
    I grow a few raspberry canes, and they are going pretty well. They fruit sporadically in late summer all through till early winter. I need to give them some space to propagate if I want to get enough for a dessert, I typically seem to have 5 or 6 berries ripe at once and plenty of green hard ones. My 8yro picks them as a snack whenever she spots another ripe one.

    I think the reason they are expensive is that they are so difficult to transport. They go from ripe to rotten in about 48 hours, and are so easily damaged.

    • bluesky on 31/08/2017 - 23:31

      I remember being warned that since blackberry is a weed, council may spray them. I have also seen notices to this effect in some public areas. I live in Victoria, so perhaps this spraying is dependent on the state/region/council. Do you not have this concern about picking blackberries along the road side?

      • mskeggs on 08/09/2017 - 14:26

        I don't worry.
        The chance of eating the day or two after spraying, but before the effect is visible (it acts fast) or rain washes it off is small, and when you see a giant hedge it is clear it hasn't been sprayed for years.
        But some people will worry. I suggest they go the day after it rains.

  • afoveht on 30/08/2017 - 20:34
    +1

    Google "Frozberries." Unfortunately (for you) frozen but the prices are great and the quality has been excellent. Depending on qty can be had for <$5/kg. Frozen works for me - I keep the deep freezer stocked and never run out. I'll still buy fresh sometimes.

    Some I get organic, others not - Google "dirty dozen organic" to see why.

  • Bluberry on 30/08/2017 - 20:51
    +2

    Just grow them at home. Super easy, costs next to nothing and fresh ++ :)

    • Cluster on 30/08/2017 - 23:50

      Problem is home grown berries are not available year round.

  • minniethemoocher on 30/08/2017 - 21:45
    +1

    I've heard China grows a lot of berries. For some reason they are not as popular as they used to be.

    • follow on 30/08/2017 - 22:52
      +1

      hepmania?

    • airal3rt on 30/08/2017 - 22:59

      Hepatitisberries are about as appealing as dingleberries.

  • Cluster on 30/08/2017 - 23:56
    +2

    I'm a huge fan of blueberries, and eat about 200g a day (everyday for about a decade). I also make wine out of these and other berries too.

    For me, I always eat frozen. Fresh is just too expensive. I prefer Costco's USA sourced frozen berries for about $6.50/kg. Their organic range is also very good, although you really won't taste any difference.

    When travelling through Europe last year I purchased fresh bilberries (sometimes sold as wild blueberries here). They're delicate and not as sweet as the high bush cultivars, and often picked before peak sweetness to preserve freshness as long as possible. Frozberries here in Australia carries Polish bilberries for about $14/kg, which is a pretty good price. Just be aware that they are highly staining and your dentist may ask what you've been eating. Canada is also a major bilberry producer. If you want to pick them fresh, just find a pine forest in Europe in mid summer. Add a bit of sugar and you'll be in berry heaven.

    Blackberries in the Adelaide hills region are classified as a weed. In some areas, like the Cleland conservation park they're everywhere. Although the fruit is small it's super sweet in late summer. Your region may also have them growing wild.

    • Embaloo on 31/08/2017 - 07:41

      Woah Bilberries!!
      Can you remember anywhere particularly in Europe? A lot of land to roam!

      • Cluster on 31/08/2017 - 10:29
        +2

        I used to pick them near Leba, in northern Poland. About 20% of Sweden is covered in bilberry bushes, so it's almost guaranteed you'll come across them in a pine forest.

  • anthony t on 07/09/2017 - 09:28
    +1

    I read that northern Finland has about 50 or more different types of berries. Just search for 'Finland berries' and you'll find heaps of info.

  • doop on 15/09/2017 - 03:17

    In Sweden during the summer you can pick bilberries and then later on in the season are raspberries (or was it vice-versa?). They also have a season of mushroom picking. There's actually a law that allows free travel through other peoples properties to pick wild berries.

    There's so much available to pick that a few companies hire in cheap labour from other countries to clean up the berries.

    • Embaloo on 15/09/2017 - 07:17

      Wow cool!! Thanks!!

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